I Will Rise
by iwasthequeen
Summary: AU. Not every fairytale ends with a 'Happily Ever After'. And not every fairytale starts with 'Once Upon A Time'. The Queen and her pet. The Mayor and her toy. Some things don't change, regardless of which world they're in. Summary is a Work in Progress. May change later.
1. She - Part I

**A/N: I probably shouldn't start another story, but I find if I focus on just one, I'll lose interest. Also, this needed to be written down otherwise I'd forget. Yet again, another AU. And by reading this first chapter, or rather not-chapter, I think you can determine how. _BUT_, and I stress that word, this is probably not going to go how you may think it will be going. I think you may notice the pattern in which my chapters tend to be around the 1000 - 1500 word mark. I am working on making them longer, but for these particular scenes, that will remain their length. Now, as I forgot last time:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Once Upon A Time. If I did, there would be a hella lot more Regina. Just sayyin'.**

**She - Part I**

_Sunlight was a rarity for her. She almost never saw it, never felt it ghost her skin, never had the chance for it to sting her eyes. Everything was dark, shadowed and black. They say that the Queen would grant you one last freedom, the chance to roam the garden's and embrace the light. Before you were sentenced, led towards your death. She had yet to gain this privilege. But there were times, if she was lucky, where she could find a glimmer of light trickling through a crack in the walls. When she was younger, the light would glaze across the stone ground, and she would try to chase it. Pouncing like a wild animal, clawing at the floor until her fingers bled, just so she could keep that glimmer of light, that moment of freedom. As she grew older, the calmer she became. But that light had always been a salvation for her. Those moments just as the sun rose, just before the castle stirred and the guards would clank down the winding staircase outside her cell, she could pretend._

_Every morning, the guards would appear. Either with a new occupant for a new cell, or to collect an old one from an old cell. They never, however, came for her._

_Until this morning._

_Keys jangled together, echoing through the freezing cold dungeons they had been holed up in for nobody really knew how long. The door creaked as it opened, banging against the wall and freeing it's dust in to the air. She sneezed, coughing as she breathed in, her eyes blinking open. Two guards stood before her, staring down at her with narrowed, unfeeling eyes. At first, she struggled. Slamming her feet against the ground and biting at whomever and whatever she could reach. She kicked her legs, screaming hoarsely as she tried to make them stop._

_She'd miss the light!_

_She couldn't miss the light!_

_Her eyes widened as just as they passed the doorway, a glimmer shone through the crack, following their footsteps until the door slammed shut, blocking her view. She sank in to their arms, each heavily armoured guard holding her up, one arm each. It was painful, but it was something. She hadn't felt much in the last few years._

_Up the staircase they dragged her, her hands flicking out to trail along the roughly carved walls, nails catching and tearing from her fingers. With a hiss, she curled her hands in to fists, glaring at the walls before turned her gaze to her captors. She had little knowledge of who they were. Hell, she had little knowledge of who she was. There was only one thing one must know. And that was who the Queen was._

_She had known at a young age that she was kept in that cell for a reason. A reason only the Queen knew of. She had heard other prisoner's speaking, glancing at her through the bars of their own cells and turned when they noticed her gaze. When she was younger, she would ask questions._

_**"Who are you?"**_

_**"Where am I?"**_

_**"Why am I here?"**_

_Eventually, she stopped asking. She stopped speaking all together. Now, she doesn't remember how to. Wild animal, remember? The best she could manage is a roughly growled 'No!'. But even then, she had no reason to speak. This was, after all, the first time she had been let out of her cell since she was put in there. She didn't know how long, but other's did._

_Fourteen years._

_Fourteen years she had been locked away in a dingy, freezing, pitch black cell. No knowledge of who she was, nor with a capability of asking. She thrashed in the guards arms as they hoisted her up, kicking open the door with force and smirking as she hissed. So much light, too much light, everything was bright and yellow and white. She closed her eyes tightly, shielding them from the sunlight as tears slid down her cheeks. Her first taste of real sun, and she could hardly stand to look at it. Her eyes remained clamped shut tightly, and she refused to open them. Shaking her head and growling as best she could when a hand covered her eyes, fingers trying to pry them open. She snapped, sinking her teeth in to the flesh before her as her head tipped back, matted hair falling loosely in the air. His companion chuckled, speaking though she understood little of what he said. Another door opened, and she could feel the dark settle over her body, the coolness of the shadows sliding over her skin. Tentatively, she opened her eyes, blinking wearily as tears continued to fall. Sniffling, she cried out as she was forced to her knees, hitting the stone floor with a force she was unused to._

_Though her eyes remained downcast, staring at a mark on the ground, she felt a shiver run through her spine, a warning, a foreboding feeling wash over her. In her line of vision, a person appeared. She tilted her head back, looking up with wide eyes as she stood before her._

_The Queen herself._

_She had seen Her Royal Highness only once before. As she was being pulled towards the castle, up the steps and no doubt led down to her hell, she had looked up. Standing above them, hands placed on the balcony edge, the Queen had watched with a perfectly raised brow, a smirk gracing her lips. Connecting their eyes, she had very nearly collapsed. From what, she didn't know. She had only been a child then, barely five summers old. But she had known. This was the Queen, and her life was now in her hands._

_As a child, she had thought she would be taken straight to the Queen's side, but she wasn't. She was thrown in to her cell and left there for days until someone came to feed her. She remembers asking whomever had come -_

_"**Why does the Queen keep me?**"_

_She never got her answer._

_Kneeling before her now, she can see the same perfect brow raised, the same smirk gracing her lips. Only this time - this time she can see the darkness in her eyes, a shadow she was familiar with. It comforted her, rather than scared her. While light was something she craved, darkness was something she was used to. A safety blanket, of such. She licked her lips, paying little attention to the dirt and dried blood that lay there, and she blinked. The Queen continued to smirk, glancing over her tattered rags she used for clothes and the dirt that marred her body. If she had kept track well enough, she was only nineteen years of age. But she couldn't be sure. The Queen hummed to herself, lifting a finger and placing it under her chin, lifting her face upwards with a slight dig of her nail. "My, how you've grown." The Queen purred, smirk growing as the girl frowned._

_For she had grown, she knew that quite well. She was no longer short enough to crawl under the stone cot in her cell, no longer small enough to slip her whole arm through the gap between bars. She used to pat the dog that slept there, try and see how long she could do so before it woke and snapped at her. It was her only form of entertainment, until the dog died. She kept quiet, for even if she tried to speak she couldn't, and she doubted the Queen would let her. Her Highness circled her, observing every scrap of her body, every scar that marked her skin and every smudge that blackened her. The Queen lifted her hand, running her sharp nails through her hair and sneering at the dirt, the grease, the uncleanliness she found. What the Queen knew was once golden coloured, was now a dirty brown, glimpses of blonde shining through. Just like the light in her cell._

_"I believe - she must be cleaned." She ordered, glaring at the servants before turning on her heel and walking away. "Have her ready within the hour." She commanded over her shoulder, flicking her fingers and smirking as the doors opened of their own accord. The girl watched, head tilted in confusion as the Queen sauntered away. She had no idea what had just happened. She didn't know if this was usual behaviour, if everyone who no doubt would face whatever crime they had committed to gain residence in the Queen's dungeon was treated as such. Her head jerked to the side as her arm was suddenly grabbed, hoisting her to her feet. Her eyes narrowed and she pulled away, wrapping her arms around her body and turned to stare at the closing doors._

_The Queen disappearing from view._

**A/N: So, there you have it. She - Part I. The chapter titles will determine the POV it's from, so pay attention to that. I apologize for the length, future chapters (though depending on the scene) will be longer. Review if you like, but I'm not going to push for any.**


	2. Regina - Part I

**A/N: Welp, yet another chapter written straight after the other. Like I said, when inspiration strikes. *shrugs*. Now, I'm going to publish this straight away. For no other reason but to showcase exactly how this is _NOT_ like other AU's, and exactly how different it will be. What? I told you in Enthralled my updates would be sporadicly random. *shrugs* Like I said, TAKE NOTE OF THE TITLES! It's important. *insert smirk here*. And once again, like Enthralled, this will go along quite slowly. Depending how you look at it ;) I guess you could say this is a non-linear story. If you don't know what that means, I'm not going to tell you because one: it'd be fun watching you get confused, and two: this note is already long enough. Without further adieu, chapter two.**

**Regina - Part I**

There was something to be said about being Mayor. The days were long, the paperwork was tiresome, and she nursed a headache more often than she would like. But - it was well worth the power. The control. She ran this town, and every resident within it's borders. It was she who made the calls, it was she who had the final say. Everything and all things waited upon her approval. And Regina revelled in it.

Power and control were her kinks. It's what kept her alive. It's what kept her _sane_. She could count on one hand the only times she gave either up. And none of them were pleasant. For anyone. And least of all for herself. Six years she had kept this town from the brink of destruction - even though she was more likely the one to cause it. She had thought to, at first. All she wanted to do the moment her eyes opened and she gazed over her new 'kingdom', her new town - All she wanted to do was run them all in to the ground. Watch them cry and beg and _scream_.

Evil Queen?

Evil Queen indeed.

Somehow, Evil Mayor didn't quite have the same ring to it. Though she knew that most referred to her as the 'Ice Queen'. Just another title she was all to amused by, and had little trouble embracing. Striding down the sidewalk, each resident presenting a slight bow of their heads, an acknowledgment towards their Mayor, their 'leader'. Regina scoffed, laughing away the fearful glances and the hint of respect. For they did respect her. They were programmed to. They just didn't know it.

Pushing open the door, the jingle of the bell above her causing a slight grimace of annoyance to grace her features, Regina slipped her mask in to place. The concerned, kind Mayor pokerface she gambled with every day. No one ever saw past it. Saw the dark hooded eyes searching for a reason to strike out. Everything was a game to her. _Everything_. She slid in to her seat, crossing one leg over the other and bending slightly, hoisting Henry up in to the seat beside her, his four year old legs kicking out happily. She smiled, though it was tight and clipped in the corners.

"Panca's?"

Regina continued to smile tightly at her son, blinking away the awfully odd feeling settling in to her stomach. Why she had adopted him, she hadn't quite worked out. He had started as merely a pawn in her game. A strategic move against - _her_. Somehow, along the way and throughout the four years she had him by her side, he had melted a small amount of her ice cold heart. Shattering the hardened wall she had built, determined to keep _feelings_ and _love_ away. She cared for him, she knew that.

But she could do little more.

"Madam Mayor?" Regina tipped her head, tilting it to the side as she sat Henry down beside her and ensured he would not slide to the floor. The waitress, Ruby, was scantily clothed and Regina wondered just how that conversation began every morning, her granny not one to approve. It amused her though, for the lack of clothing and the newly streaked hair spoke volumes to the brunette.

Desperation.

A cry for - something. Help? Attention? Regardless - the sight was nothing but entertainment for Regina.

Smirking slightly, though hiding it behind a smile, she lifted her brow and nodded. "Coffee and a bagel for me." Turning to Henry, she stared at his pleading gaze, his pouted lip and the blinking of his eyes, before rolling her own. "Pancakes for Henry." Ruby nodded, writing down the order, before bopping Henry on the nose and wandering away, Regina watching her leave with thinly veiled amusement.

"Pull your skirt down and untie that shirt, for gods sake Ruby!"

"Ugh!"

Turning from the bickering women, Regina lifted the newspaper as Henry played with the lunch menu. Everything was so - routine now. No surprises, no last minute problems that needed tending to. Everything ran so smoothly.

And Regina was bored.

Flicking page after page over the other, Regina sighed softly. Useless ramblings of Sydney White, her own personal 'genie'. What she wanted, he delivered. And it was for that reason she hadn't disposed of the man. Still, the mines were off-limits, the clock tower broken, the sheriff finding lost dogs - nothing changed. Regina was both thankful, and annoyed. The only differences in her life in the last six years had been Henry, and that was four years ago. She needed something - else. What, she wasn't sure of yet. But when it came, she would know.

But would she like it?

Regina raised a brow as her coffee was placed beside her, her ordered bagel in front and Henry's pancakes sliding across the table to sit before him. He grinned happily, bouncing in his seat as he waited for Regina. The Mayor lifted her chin, glancing over her order before nodding in approval to the tall brunette standing patiently by their table. "Will that be all?" Regina nodded, lifting a hand and gesturing for her to leave, shooing her away. She smirked as Ruby left, the faint 'Bitch' wafting back to her followed by the thwack of granny's own newspaper against her arm. "Quiet!" She muttered, though Regina still heard.

It was good being her.

She leant to the side, cutting Henry's pancakes for him and pushing the knife away from his reach, handing him the fork and staring down at him. "Don't rush and don't smother it in syrup. It's bad for you." He nodded at her, having heard it all before, quickly digging in to his breakfast whilst Regina lifted the coffee mug to her lips.

"Morning Madame Mayor."

Regina jerked slightly, spilling her coffee over her hand and hissing against the heat. She lifted her gaze, glaring at the sheriff as he grimaced, quickly pulling napkins from the bench and moving to press them against her hand. She pulled away from him, eyes narrowed as she snatched the napkins from his hand and proceeded to hold it against her stinging skin. "Graham." She greeted roughly, angry with both him, and herself. Herself for having reacted as she did. And he for having caused it. "What do you want Sheriff?"

Graham grimaced once again, sliding in to the seat opposite and smiling as Henry waved. "Hi Graha'." Regina sighed, tilting her head in her sons direction as she dabbed at her skin. "Don't talk with your mouth full Henry." She scolded, Henry sinking in his seat with a mumbled 'sorry', returning to eating quietly. Regina sighed, running her hand over his hair before returning it to her hold, soothing the skin over her palm. "Graham?"

The sheriff rubbed at the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly as he shifted in his seat. "Well, I was wondering when you wanted me to come in for our meeting?" Regina raised a brow, dropping the napkin to the table and using it to wipe what had been hot coffee away from the surface of the table. "Meeting?" There were plenty of meetings she had today, each about the same thing. Funding for the school, funding for the hospital, Dr. Hopper's expenses - everything revolved around money now. Not that any of it mattered. Nothing changed in this town, and that included time. Henry was the exception, something Regina was surprised no one had picked up on as yet. But then she had known Storybrooke's resident's were clueless, mindless. They followed what she wanted. And she wanted subtlety.

"Yes Ma'am. You asked to see me yesterday at the town meeting? After everyone left." Graham glanced to Henry, watching him shove a forkful of pancake in his mouth happily. Regina blinked, frowning as she thought back before she sighed and shifted in her seat. "I'll get Isobel to call your office once I've checked my schedule." Graham nodded, still watching Henry until Regina coughed, raising her brow and pursing her lips. "Was there anything else Sheriff, or may I have breakfast with my son?" It wasn't so much a question, as a demand. _Go away_. Very subtle Regina.

Graham smiled crookedly, nodding his head as he stood. "Have a good day Madame Mayor. Henry."

Regina followed him with her eyes as he left, still facing the opposite seat and sighing as she heard the bell. "You don't like him." Turning her gaze to her son, Regina smiled, brow creasing. "Why would you think that?" It was stupid to argue. She _didn't_ like the sheriff. She didn't like anyone. Henry, once again, the exception. "Justa feelin'." Regina grimaced, lifting her brow at the punctuations, the pronunciation. Henry cringed, smiling awkwardly up at his mother as he raised his shoulders. "Sorry." He mumbled, returning to his food before leaning up as best he could, reaching for the glass of juice Ruby had brought out. Sighing, Regina pulled the glass closer and watched as Henry drank, picking at her bagel in thought.

Lifting her gaze, turning back to face the opposite chair, she nodded in thanks as granny lowered a new coffee to her side. They were all well aware of how touchy Regina could be without her morning caffeine. She lifted the mug to her lips, inhaling the smell she so desired, closing her eyes as the scent wafted through her. Smiling, she opened her eyes and froze. Across from her, a portrait was situated on the wall. Encased in glass, it presented a reflection of whatever, or rather whomever, passed the diner outside. A flash of blonde escaped her vision, green eyes staring in to her own brown ones, before the image was gone. Regina turned, placing the mug to the table and standing, one hand braced on her chair as her heart pounded.

No. She couldn't be - it wasn't her - it wasn't possible.

She moved quickly, striding across the diner's floor and flinging the door open, ignoring the no doubt shocked and curious stares of the patron's within as she stepped out on to the sidewalk. Glancing both ways, Regina huffed softly, folding her arms over her chest as she blinked rapidly, shaking her head.

Nothing.

Regina laughed coldly, shaking her head once again as she re-entered the diner and glared at anyone watching her. It was stupid of her to think that she would find her, that she would come back. And stupid was one thing Regina was not. Sliding back in to her seat, she smiled stiffly at Henry. "Momma?" Shaking her head once again, she nodded towards his breakfast. "Eat up Henry, then we're going." He nodded, finished what remained of his pancakes as she tore what was left of her bagel, taking a deep breath and glancing up at the portrait across from her.

All she saw was Storybrooke's docks.

Regina swallowed the lump in her throat, sneering at her own slip and perfecting the mask she held in place. This was why she held herself at a distance. This was why she couldn't _feel_. Why she shouldn't.

Because of _her_.

_Emma_.

**A/N: Hope this was satisfactory? Now, just a little notice. If I've taken at least, oh, four days since updating, feel free to spam my PM Box with 'Can you update please?'. Sometimes the motivation runs out but I'm rather determined to get these two stories done and dusted. With that, goodnight xx**


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